Knesset: ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JERUSALEM ARAB SCHOOLS

David Bedein, 07/02/17 21:02

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David Bedein

David Bedein is an MSW, a community organizer by profession, a writer, and an investigative journalist.In 1987 he established the Israel Resource News Agency, with offices at Beit Agron, 37 Hillel Street, Jerusalem.Since 2005, Bedein serves as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research. One of the foci of Bedein's work concerns the policies of UNRWA which continue to host five million descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war in 59 refugee facilities under the premise and promise of the "right of return" to Arab villages which existed before Israel's War of Independence. In that context, Bedein has produced numerous investigative studies of UNRWA, including numerous films and monographs , all of which appear at www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com Bedein is also the author of "ROADBLOCK TO PEACE: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict: UNRWA Policies Reconsidered", which can be ordered through Amazon. Most recently, Bedein authored "GENESIS OF THE PALESTINIAN...

Following a formal hearing at the Israel Knesset Education Committee, held on Monday at the Israel Knesset Parliament, the Chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, MK Yaakov Margi, issued a formal, unprecedented directive to the Israel Education Ministry and the Jerusalem Department of Education, requiring them to provide - for the first time - precise documentation of the oversight and enforcement procedures of educational materials used for Arab schools in Jerusalem, both in the Israel capital's municipal schools and UNRWA schools.

By law, the Education Committee directive must be fulfilled within 45 days.

During the hearing, members of the Knesset Aliza Lavie, Anat Berko, Yehudah Glick, Oded Forer, Amir Ohana and Motti Yogev, exposed harsh evidence of the continuing incitement to terror and violence taking place in Jerusalem Arab municipal and UNRWA schools.

Approximately 100,000 Arab students in Jerusalem schools are exposed daily to educational material which glorifies jihad, supports terror, encourages hate, anti-Semitism and the de-legitimization of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, while depicting Palestine “from the Jordan to the sea” and encouraging school children to reclaim it at all costs.

In less than six weeks' time, the Israel education establishment will have to show what it has done and what it intends to do to cope with current trends in Arab schools in Jerusalem. That report will form the basis for litigation and education reform.

Since more than 30 countries donate to UNRWA schools in Jerusalem, UNRWA education accountability will involve consuls of the lead donors to UNRWA: The US, The UK, EU, Sweden, and Germany.

There are two non-Israelis who have inspired this inquiry.

The first is Rabbi David Saperstein, the head of the Religious Action Center in Washington, who served for the past two years as the U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom. On several occasions, Rabbi Saperstein hosted a wide range of Jewish organizations in Washington to hear the Center for Near East Policy Research to present its films and research, which document the incitement inherent in the new Palestinian curriculum now used in UNRWA schools. Rabbi Saperstein, however, made the point that until and unless the issue of incitement becomes an issue in Israel itself, no Jewish group in the diaspora will take the issue seriously.

The second non-Israeli who inspired this inquiry is none other than UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness, who appeared opposite yours truly on a Fox News panel, and challenged our exposé of UNRWA incitement by saying that UNRWA schools operate freely in Israel's capitol, with full "approval" of the government in Jerusalem. That clip can be viewed at: